LETTUCE AS A WINTER GREEN

By Julianne Melchor

UCCE / El Dorado County Master Gardener

One of the great benefits for gardeners living in Northern California is the ability to garden all winter long. I know because I'm from Minnesota where my gardening was confined to the five warmest months, May to September. My greatest pleasure now is planting my winter garden, then boasting about it to all my friends back home as they boast about surviving incredibly bad weather.

I plant many cool season annual flowers – lots of pansies, primrose and cyclamen – as well as several varieties of lettuce and other cool season greens – spinach, chard and mustard. I revel in watching them grow slowly but surely through the cool months and then burst into rapid growth in spring. I haven't lived in Northern California long enough to be cavalier about tearing out my summer annuals in time to plant my winter annuals, so I usually don't plant any winter annuals until air and soil temperatures are too cool to allow much fall or winter growth. Even so, my winter lettuce is superb as a decorative plant and who knows, maybe I'll develop that cavalier attitude with a little more practice. In the meantime, let me share some tips on growing lettuce at this time of year.

Lettuce, impossible to start in hot summer temperatures, is the perfect plant for our mild winters here in Northern California. Lettuce grows best in cool temperatures with lots of moisture. Planted from seed in August and early September, or from seedlings any time from September through April, lettuce easily withstands frost and freeze. Another plus is that it looks great in the winter garden when interplanted with other cool season greens and flowers. Bolting (seeds or flowers produced prematurely) can happen in a matter of days in hot weather, but is not a problem in cool months. Pests and diseases are less problematic also, although they won't be eliminated entirely. I look at it this way: I share a little of my lettuce with the slugs and earwigs and in the process, save myself the chore of implementing measures to get them out of my garden.

Lettuce is divided into two types, head and leaf. Heading types form loose or compact bunches of leaves while leaf lettuces are more open. Head lettuce varieties include Iceberg (which forms a tightly compacted head), as well as loose head varieties such as Bibb, Buttercrunch and Romaine. Leaf lettuces include Argula, black-seeded Simpson, Endive, Grand Rapids and Salad Bowl. Mesclun mixtures of leaf varieties are available in seed packets or six-packs from seed companies and nurseries. Many leaf lettuces produce a range of colors from green to pink to red, or combinations of these colors, perfectly complementing annual winter flowers.

On the Western slope of El Dorado County, lettuce seedlings may be planted all winter, but lettuce from seed should be sown in well-tilled soil in August and September. If planted earlier, the seed won't sprout due to heat; if planted later, the seed will most likely rot in the ground. Successive planting in two-week increments will stretch the harvest into manageable segments.

Lettuce seeds are tiny and easier to plant if mixed with a small amount of fine sand or soil, then scattered thinly in single or wide rows. Barely cover the seeds with more fine soil – lettuce needs exposure to light to germinate – and thin by harvesting seedlings for a fall salad. If saving garden space is a goal, mix lettuce seeds with radish, carrot and onion seeds, and plant by scattering seeds in a one-square-foot plot. It's amazing how many salads may be harvested from such a tiny space!

Head lettuce should be harvested by cutting the entire plant just above soil level, and may be done at any size. An entire head of baby lettuce makes a great individual salad, and full-grown heads will supply enough lettuce for several people. Leaf lettuce can be harvested by picking individual leaves from plants or by using the "cut and come again" method. Use scissors or a long knife to sever leaves about one inch above soil level. The lettuce will continue to grow new leaves, usually within a couple weeks in warmer temperatures. The "cut and come again" method makes quick work of harvesting a large amount of lettuce if it has been planted in a wide row, especially if using a long knife in a sweeping motion.

Lettuce as a winter green is easy and fun to grow. I hope I have inspired you to try it, whether as a decorative or productive plant. Having completed this article, I'm itching to get into my garden to replace the my dwindling marigolds with a swath of light and dark green lettuces and purple pansies – what a glorious combination! I can already feel my attitude changing!

For more information on growing or harvesting lettuce or other vegetables, contact the UCCE Master Gardener office at 530-621-5512 Monday through Friday, 9 a.m. to noon. Or, you can come by our office during the same hours at 311 Fair Lane in Placerville.